Choices of Fate (Fate Series) (26 page)

“Yes, mi vida, you can come in, so long as Ethan is not with you. He is not allowed to see his bride before the ceremony.”

The door opened and Elijah filled the doorway with his tall frame draped in a perfectly tailored tuxedo, but Alexa could see there were people behind him that she didn’t know.

As he entered the room, he gestured behind him, “Alexa, I would like to introduce you to our guests.” He moved aside to reveal a man also dressed in a tux who was looking at Alexa rather strangely. He was a couple of inches shorter than Elijah, but no less handsome. Next to him was a woman who was close to Alexa’s height and another man who appeared slightly younger with his crooked grin and longer somewhat spiky brown hairstyle. Alexa hadn’t needed to keep her shields up since arriving in the home, so she already knew the guests were vampires. She could sense their presence, but their thoughts were silent.

She glanced over to Josephine and Cami, who were both crouched down slightly facing the guests with their heads bowed. She looked back at the newcomers with confusion as Josephine spoke. “My lord, it is such an honor to have you in our home.”

“Ladies, there is no need for such formality,” the man said, his voice a rich, pleasant baritone. “After today we are all family,” he continued with his eyes fixed on Alexa.

Alexa’s confusion deepened and she looked to Elijah who was smiling broadly. “Alexa, may I present William II, High Commander of the Agency and leader of our people, his lovely wife Rebecca, and his son Jared. The commander has graciously agreed to perform the ceremony today.”

She smiled and extended her hand to the gentleman as he approached her, but instead of taking it he completely shocked her by scooping her up into his arms and hugging her almost too tightly.
 

He set her back down on her feet and clutched her shoulders as he looked at her intently, almost as if he was trying to memorize her face. “How could I refuse to marry my only daughter,” he stated with a bit of sadness in his grey eyes.

✧

Alexa suddenly felt dizzy and everything became fuzzy. She couldn’t have heard him right. She looked to Elijah, then to Josephine, who both were looking back at her with concern as they took in her suddenly ashen complexion.

Her knees began to buckle and William quickly moved behind her and placed his hands under her elbows to steady her.

She leaned back into him as she tried to get her bearings, his wife was now standing in front of her looking distressed. She reached out cautiously and took Alexa’s hand. “Are you all right, dear?”
 

As things came back into focus, Alexa looked at the woman who was watching her carefully with tears starting to fill her brown eyes. Taking in the details of her face, she didn’t need to be told that the woman now holding her hand was her mother.

Again able to stand on her own, she took a small step away from William’s grasp and turned to face him as Rebecca, still holding Alexa’s hand, moved to his side.
 

Everyone remained silent while Alexa stared at her parents for several moments. She didn’t even blink, afraid that if she looked away they would somehow disappear from her life again. A lifetime of questions and emotions were racing through her mind, making it impossible for her to find her voice, so she just kept staring. Her mother lightly squeezed her hand, causing Alexa to look down briefly before Rebecca pulled her into her arms.

“Oh, Alexa. You are so beautiful,” she said, her voice shaky with emotion. “I have missed you so much, baby girl.”

Any hope Alexa had of keeping her own tears at bay was lost with her mother’s sweet words. She wrapped her arms tightly around the woman whose embrace she had longed for her entire life and began to sob.

William wrapped his strong arms around both women and they all clung to each other for several minutes, while everyone else looked on.

✧

Still standing near the door, Jared felt like he was glued to the floor, his eyes locked on one of the beautiful woman whom he had yet to meet. He should have been focused on his sister, he had been waiting his whole life for this day, yet his attention was utterly and completely captured by someone else. She was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

Cami could feel his gaze boring into her while she struggled to keep her eyes on anything but him. When he first entered the room, their eyes met and it was as if she was lost in the deep pools of his amazing grey eyes, completely overcome by the jolt that went through her at the sight of him. So much so that it took her a moment to recognize the presence of the High Commander and drop her head in deference as was customary.
 

Her mother had taken her hand as they watched the emotional reunion of Alexa and her parents and all she could think about was what the warmth of his hand would be like. She silently cursed herself for her weakness. No man had ever affected her like that before.

It’s just all this emotional shit going on around here. He’s just another man and I’m not interested.
Cami thought trying desperately to convince herself of the lie.

“Son, what are you doing? Come, meet your sister,” William summoned as he reluctantly broke away from Alexa and Rebecca.

At the authoritative sound of his father’s voice, Jared finally tore his gaze away from Cami and approached his family.

As she and Rebecca let go of one another, Alexa gratefully took the handkerchief that her father silently offered and dabbed at her face as she looked up at the young man crossing the room. She had never even dreamed that she might have a sibling.

Jared ran a hand through his tousled hair, grinning sheepishly as he approached Alexa.

“Hey, sis,” he said before he flashed the rest of the distance and pulled her into what could only be described as a big bear hug, making her giggle with surprise and lightening the intense emotional atmosphere that had taken over the room.

“Hey, kid,” she goaded as he put her down, amazed by how natural their interaction already felt.

“So I hear you’re getting married today, that’s heavy. We just met your future husband, he’s a little old for you don’t you think?” he joked causing everyone to laugh, except Cami.

She was still battling with herself over how this stranger was making her feel. When Jared had finally looked away from her, she took the opportunity to really look at him as he crossed the room. Delicious, was the word that entered her mind when she took in his sexy, confident swagger and boyish good looks. He was dressed as the other men were, in a well-tailored tuxedo, but there was something defiant in the way he wore it, like he didn’t like being confined. Much like how she felt wearing a dress.

With the highly emotional climate starting to settle, Alexa finally spoke, “How is this possible, how did you all get here?”

“For that we owe thanks to Dr. Kline, and his beautiful wife,” William said clasping Elijah’s shoulder.
 

Elijah shook his head, “The credit belongs to Josephine, she was clever enough to look into Alexa’s past. I only made the phone call.”

“My lord, it was merely luck on my part, had you not been so famous amongst our people my vision would not have proved very useful,” Josephine said humbly.

“No matter, we are forever indebted to your family and please from now on you all must address me as William,” he said and took Alexa’s hand and kissed it, “except you, my darling, I realize we have only just met, but I would be greatly honored if you would call me father, or something close to that.”
 

“Of course,” she replied without hesitation.

He stroked the side of her face gently and said, “You truly have grown into a beautiful woman, but you will always be our baby girl. Now,” he said stepping back, “I’m sure you have many questions for your mother and I, however I believe we have a wedding to get to, and there will be some time for that after, yes?” He said in question looking to Elijah.

“Yes, I believe they will have a few hours before their flight is scheduled to leave.” Elijah responded.

“Who’s flying somewhere?” Alexa asked confused.

“I am sorry, dear,” Josephine started as she glared at Elijah for his slip, “Ethan meant for it to be a surprise. He has chartered a plane to take you on your honeymoon tonight and before you ask, the destination is also a surprise.”

Alexa’s heart started to beat a little faster, she had never been on a plane and had always thought the prospect sounded slightly terrifying. Her time in solitary confinement had left her a little claustrophobic, never mind being thousands of feet above the ground.

“One other thing,” William began, “if you all don’t mind, Rebecca and I would really like to meet our granddaughter before the ceremony, I understand she will be the flower girl today.” He already sounded like a proud grandpa.

As if on cue, the sound of Chloe’s new dress shoes clicking on the wood floors echoed in the hall before she came barreling into the room giggling with delight, clutching a gold colored mid-heel shoe, and looking over her shoulder. As Alexa took in her ruffly white dress and white patent leather shoes, she was thankful that Josephine had taken into account her rapid growth when they ordered her clothes only two nights before. She was at least one full size larger than she had been on that night.

“Mama, Barbie get me!” she squealed as she ran over to Alexa and ducked behind her skirt.
 

Moments later Barb came around the corner, dressed in a purple skirt suit hobbling with only one shoe on. “Now where did that girl get off to with my other shoe?” She pretended to ask with a big smile since Chloe was doing a poor job of hiding with all of her giggling.
 

Unable to contain her excitement, Chloe jumped out, “Found me!” she yelled still giggling, as she ran back over to Barb, handing over her missing shoe.
 

“Thank you kindly, honey,” Barb said as she slipped on the shoe and stood up right.

“Pardon me for my rudeness,” she said addressing Alexa’s family. “I’m Barb Wilson, and you all must be Alexa’s people. How wonderful you could get here in time.”

Chloe had been so engrossed in the little game that she had run right by without noticing William and Rebecca, but now she stood quiet as she looked at each of them carefully. They both appeared frozen watching Chloe with expressions of complete awe. She turned to look at Alexa, then back to them before a bright smile lit her face and she took off running into William’s arms.

“Hi, gampa,” she said into his ear as she hugged his neck, then turned to Rebecca and reached out for her.

As William released her he addressed Elijah. “I know you said that her growth was accelerated, but somehow I was still not prepared, she is remarkable.”

“Yes, she is very special,” Elijah agreed proudly.

“Mi vida, perhaps you should escort our guests to one of the sitting rooms and give them the remainder of the time before the ceremony to spend with Chloe. Alexa and I need a few moments to freshen up her makeup and put on the final touches before she sees Ethan.”

“Speaking of the groom, I better run and check on him too, Lord knows he’s probably losing his mind trying to stay away with all this commotion in the house,” Barb said as she headed for the door.

Cami, who had been silent since the arrival of Alexa’s family, jumped at the opportunity to escape the confinement of that room. While it was more than large enough to easily accommodate five times the number of people, Jared’s presence made her feel anxious, confined and had her heart beating much faster than normal. She only hoped that the presence of Alexa’s, and now Barb’s faster human heartbeats were enough to keep anyone from noticing.

“I’ll come with you, Barb,” she said as she sped to the door while Barb walked through. Before she could follow, Jared’s flashed to her side, his hand gripping her forearm. She felt as if she couldn’t breathe with him touching her bare skin, or maybe she was just holding her breath, she wasn’t certain.

“Excuse me, but we were never properly introduced. I’m Jared, Jared Ryan,” he said releasing her arm and holding out his hand. Cami looked down at the offered appendage, afraid to touch him again, but his father was the High Commander, she couldn’t be rude to him, so she reluctantly took his hand.

“Um, hello, I’m Cami Kline, it’s nice to meet you. I’m sorry, I must go check on my brother,” she said quickly as she tried to pull her hand away, but Jared held on and began stroking her knuckles softly with his thumb sending shivers down her spine.

He stepped a little closer and looked into her eyes. “The pleasure is mine, Cami. That’s a beautiful name. I look forward to seeing more of you later,” he said as he flashed her a devilish grin, his tone implying more than a friendly chat in the parlor.
 

Not knowing how to respond, she simply nodded, pulled her hand from his grip and turned to follow Barb who had stopped only a couple of yards down the hallway to wait for her and watch the little exchange. She smiled wide at Cami and chuckled, but didn’t say anything.
 

Jared leaned in the doorway and watched as Cami retreated down the hallway, breathing deeply to take in her lingering scent and wondering if she had felt everything that he had. Her face and demeanor had remained impassive, yet her heartbeat told a different story.

He stepped out of the way as Elijah led his parents out of the room with Chloe perched comfortably on Rebecca’s hip and despite his desire to go after Cami, he followed them in the opposite direction.

CHAPTER 23 -
I Do

Thirty minutes later, Alexa picked up her bouquet of white calla lilies and stepped out of the room on rather shaky legs. Josephine had reapplied her makeup and given her a simple diamond tennis bracelet and matching studs before she left Alexa alone for a few minutes to gather her thoughts.

She placed her hand against her stomach and took a deep breath trying to ease some of the butterflies she was feeling. Of course she had expected this day to be one of the most memorable of her life, she just hadn’t anticipated that so many of the memories would come before she walked down the aisle.